I remember growing up my parents would watch the news at 10:00 to get all of the information that happened that day. They would listen to find out what had happened in the world that day and they would take what was said to be true. I remember growing up learning that I should trust what the news anchors said to be true. I easily made the same assumption about the newspaper, the political leaders, the internet news, and the social media outlets. I know that seems humorous and naive in today’s reality, but from my earliest days I had learned to trust the news as a sources of truth and I also mistakenly learned to blindly trust whatever the news or someone in authority communicated. In 2022, our culture has fewer and fewer sources of communication that we can trust to be unbiased truth. In fact because of the last 2-3 years many of us have come to question anyone in authority and anyone who says they know the truth, which has resulted in many of us being skeptical of anyone and everyone. For many people that has passed on to their own spiritual life. Many people who attended church or would have considered themselves Christians 3 years ago have now left the church and became vocal critics of Christianity and the church. Before we get too critical of them, we have to look at the root cause that led many of them to this place. For many of these people who went from spectators of Christianity to critics were a result of the lack of strong and consistent Biblical teaching and lifestyle. (This has been a major problem in youth ministries for a couple of decades – I have more thoughts on this that I will share in a separate post). As we enter this new chapter of American Christianity in 2022 we need to resist the draw to want it to be the way it was, but instead be humble enough to evaluate where we are at, what brought us to this point, and what is the first step to recover a Biblical worldview for first Christians, and then the rest of the world.
So, how do we begin to thrive in 2022 when it seems like the walls of truth have been demolished and opinion has ransacked the foundations of core truth and belief? I believe Paul gives us a reminder and framework in how to move forward.
2 Tim 1:13 Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me—a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus. 14 Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.
Key 3 – Guard the Truth
Paul encourages Timothy to hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching. Paul was reminding Timothy that good teaching has a pattern, a pattern that builds off of itself, that doesn’t contradict itself, that produces solidity in our thoughts. Wholesome teaching is consistent and is something that we need to constantly be ingesting and pouring into our lives. For many of us in 2022 we have to evaluate where we are currently at in having wholesome teaching in our lives. We can’t just assume we are presently in a good place. Evaluate yourself, over the last 6-12 months where have you gotten information, truth that has influenced your life – friends, media, Pinterest, Instagram, Tik Tok, Fox News, CNN, google, the Bible? Before you know what the right thing to hold on to, you have to discern what is the source of correct truth that is beneficial.
For Christ followers, Paul mentions another tool for evaluation on whether the truth you are guarding is the right thing to guard or not. Paul mention the pattern will be shaped by the faith and love that you have in Jesus. If you are a Christ follower, go to church, listen to Christian podcasts, a way that you can evaluate if you are building on the right foundation is to ask yourself does the truth that you rely on produce more faith and love in you. I think Paul wasn’t just saying does it produce this on the inside of you (my faith is between me and God only), but does it transform your life, how you treat other people, how you live, how you respond to circumstances. In 2022, I think many Christ followers have been tricked to rely on hearing good Biblical teaching to be the same as having a personal solid foundation. Why did 10-20% (if not more) of church attenders leave the church over the last 2 years? A major contributor to that was that they may have been guarding the wrong truth and we as Christian leaders are responsible for that. Individually I believe we need to strip back our preferences and pride and examine what is the true condition of our faith and then identify what truth we need to put in our lives and guard those truths. For many of us this will be an intentional 1-2 year journey of reconstructing our faith to be rooted in the right teaching that will allow us to thrive.
Lastly, Paul reminds Timothy he is not in this alone. If we are honest with ourselves the work of reconstructing our faith and helping others reconstruct their faith seems ominous and potentially impossible. In a time of our society where many people are weary, this challenge can seem overwhelming, but Paul says this to Timothy – “Through the power of the Holy Spirit that lives in you….”. Paul reminds us today, that as we step towards thriving that we are not alone, it isn’t something that we have to navigate alone and that when we get further ahead, then help will come, but instead he invites us to engage the Holy Spirit that lives in people who have put their trust in Jesus. He invites us to learn to trust the Holy Spirit for guidance as we ask ourselves what is true? How do we walk out living in love with other people? How do we follow Jesus when we already feel alone and disconnected? Paul reminds us of the power of the Holy Spirit who will never leave us and whose whole role is to comfort and counsel us as we walk our life with Jesus out. If you have not put your faith in Jesus, I would encourage you to take a chance and talk to a Christ follower to help you walk these days out. God wants you to thrive. He wants you to live fully the life that He has given you. You don’t need to feel alone in this journey. Together we can work together to discover the truth that God has given us and guard that truth in our lives.